Cal falls to UCLA 36
Posted: 10/18/2014 04:30:15 PM PDT
Updated: 10/18/2014 04:42:14 PM PDT
BERKELEY -- After a one-week hiatus, Cal offense rediscovered football lunacy Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Pushed around much of the afternoon in front of 49,257 fans, the opportunistic Bears made enough plays to stay close to UCLA before the Bruins escaped with a 36-34 victory.
Ka'imi Fairbairn's 26-yard field goal with 3:40 left was the sixth lead change of the game and put the Bruins (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12) ahead for good in front of 49,257 fans.
Cal, held to a touchdown a week earlier against Washington, had scored 164 points in three wild games over the three previous weeks. Once again Saturday, the points and drama flowed.
Cal took a 34-33 lead on Jared Goff's 23-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Lawler with 6:50 left, before UCLA marched into position for Fairbairn's field goal.
The game took a solemn turn with 3:34 left when Cal junior Trevor Davis, a Martinez native, was injured on a kickoff return. For more than 10 minutes, Cal players huddled quietly 20 yards away while medical staff attended to Davis.
Finally, with the Cal student section chanting his name, Davis was put on a gurney, his head immobilized, and loaded onto a cart. He raised one arm and gave fans a thumbs-up before being driven off the field.
Then the Bears went to work.
They drove to the UCLA 39 with 1:40 left when junior Chris Harper -- another wide receiver -- took a hit to the back from UCLA defensive back Jaleel Wadood and stayed on the ground for nearly five minutes before walking off the field with help.
Two plays later, Goff's pass was intercepted by Marcus Rios on a deep pass down the right sideline. The play was reviewed by officials because a replay seemed to show Rios was juggling the ball as he went out of bounds. But the ruling on the field was confirmed, giving UCLA possession with 51 seconds left.
A second straight home defeat sends the Bears (4-3, 2-3 Pac-12) into a Friday matchup with No. 9 Oregon at Levi's Stadium. The Ducks have beaten Cal five straight times, including by a whopping margin of 157-48 the past three years.
UCLA snapped a seven-game losing streak at Berkeley.
The Bruins had the better of things most of the afternoon, outgaining the Bears by 200 yards.
UCLA had allowed Utah and Oregon a combined 500 rushing yards in losses the previous two weeks, but Cal managed just 56 yards on 31 attempts.
Goff finished 25 of 41 for 303 yards and two touchdowns, plus the interception. UCLA's Brett Hundley was 31 of 42 for 330 yards and two touchdowns.
Down 24-14 at halftime, the Bears got a break to start the third quarter when Hundley failed on a hurried fourth-and-1 sneak at the Cal 46. The Bears responded with a 54-yard scoring drive, highlighted by Goff's 49-yard pass to Lawler.
Daniel Lasco's 2-yard touchdown run got the Bears within three points with 12:48 left.
UCLA seemed poised to respond with a touchdown of its own after Mossi Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 67 yards to the Cal 22. But the Bruins stalled and settled for a 24-yard field goal by Fairbairn and a 27-21 lead with 10:51 left.
The Bears, having twice in a row squandered good field position, finally cashed in for a 28-27 lead when Goff hit Davis in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown with 2:33 left in the quarter. Davis made the catch despite defensive holding and interference calls against the Bruins.
Hundley ran and passed UCLA back into the lead, capping a 71-yard drive with a 15-yard keeper around left end with 12 seconds left in the quarter. Hundley threw incomplete on a two-point pass try, leaving the Bruins' lead at 33-28.
Cal scored touchdowns on drives of 18 and 20 yards after forcing two turnovers, but otherwise was completely outplayed in the first half.
UCLA outgained the Bears 363 yards to 144 in the half and had a 20-8 first-down edge. Cal had just 32 rushing yards in the half.
The Bears got even at 7-7 on Daniel Lasco's 3-yard touchdown run with 12 minutes left in the second quarter. The score came four plays after Trey Cheek forced Hundley to fumble and Hardy Nickerson Jr. recovered for Cal at the UCLA 18.
After a UCLA go-ahead field goal, Cal accepted another giveaway from the Bruins, with Nickerson prying the ball loose from running back Paul Perkins and Cedric Dozier recovering at the UCLA 20.
Five plays later, freshman backup quarterback Luke Rubenzer came on and, instead of running the ball, lobbed a 7-yard fade to Harper, who made a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch, despite interference from defensive back Ishmael Adams.
That put Cal in front 14-10 with 5:46 left in the half, but the Bruins answered with scoring drives of 66 and 95 yards. Jordan James scored on an 11-yard run, and Hundley beat the Cal blitz with a screen pass that Perkins took 49 yards into the end zone with 13 seconds left in the half.
As expected, Cal left guard Chris Borrayo did not suit up because of a head injury. Matt Cochran started in his place.
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